Words by Justin Turford
Since the birth of jazz in the early 20th Century, the harp has only managed to be a part-time contributor to the genre though why that is, it’s hard to put a finger on. If jazz is the ability to take a composition and improvise new melodic shapes and emotional moods from it via whatever instrument you choose, then why was the harp only accorded second class status? Perhaps it is because females seem most attracted to and proficient with this ancient instrument, and jazz (like a lot of the music industry) was, outside of the featured vocalists, regarded as a strictly male domain for too long. The boys didn’t play it so it wasn’t a serious instrument.
I, for one, found my way into the deeper reaches of jazz through the intense mysticism of Alice Coltrane’s 1970 masterpiece ‘Journey In Satchidananda’, her emotionally vivid and star-searching harp playing the vehicle through which I began to understand and truly love the form. I didn’t need a tenor saxophone solo to show me the way.
There was also the versatile Dorothy Ashby who could bebop it if needed but could also lay it down funky with Stevie, her 1968 album ‘Afro-Harping’ a jazz-harpist’s blueprint of sorts for decades to come.
The 90s’ (in the UK at least) saw a repositioning of Alice and Dorothy’s place in the jazz pantheon. A new open-eared audience discovered jazz through different routes, the linear history of the genre not as relevant to these young ears. The critics sway weakened or irrelevant, the soul-stirring harp became something to explore again, to sample (guilty!), or just to relax to.
Fast forward to now and we are blessed by fantastic jazz-harpists from all corners: Amanda Whiting and Nala Sinephro (UK), Brandee Younger (USA), Edmar Castañeda (Colombia), Alina Bzhezhinska (Ukraine), Julie Campiche (Switzerland) to name a few. Another name to be added to the top echelons of this list is Maria-Christina Harper.
London-based but Greek born and with Egyptian roots, her explorative, multihued approach to the instrument is probably nearest to the Alice Coltrane universe than any of her contemporary peers. Her original compositions combine Greek and Eastern scales and innovative Western jazz techniques in an expressive painterly way, and her willingness to stare down the instrument’s classicist roots whilst displaying a courageous freeness between herself and her collaborators’ interplay make ‘Passing By’ an exceptional debut album.
After becoming friends in their new home of Hastings, the trio was organically formed from Maria-Christina on her electric harp, the ridiculously in demand Evan Jenkins on drums and the brilliant saxophonist Josephine Davies (Instrumentalist Of The Year, 2019 Parliamentary Jazz Award). It was quickly apparent that something significant was happening from the get-go “We knew we were onto something special from our very first rehearsal” she says. “It was an exciting and special moment”.
Across the seven tracks here there definitely lies some of of the atmospheric spirit and musical threads from the late 60s / early 70s spiritual and loft jazz scenes where folkloric idioms, psychedelia and abrasive avant-garde rule-breaking lived side by side but the album also contains a distinctly contemporary edge with filtered loops and ambient textures sitting amongst the live instrumentation.
‘East Hill Meditation’ is one such example with its flanging drones and a sparse harp that takes turns sounding like a stand up bass or a bouzouki, the glissandos of the classic harp sound never far away. On top of this meditative bed, Evan scatters percussive textures as Josephine’s sax wails and moans in empathetic harmony. As much a feeling as anything, this calming piece reveals the trio’s connective power, the music dictating how the instrument is performed; the harp doesn’t have ‘be’ a harp.
The two-headed ‘In Cairo / Grandma’s Coat’ is a much more modal affair. Maria-Christina once again plays both the bass and a filtered psychedelic top line, the sax and harp tussling and building in intensity as Evan keeps it splashy and angular on the cymbals. His drumming sharpens to a point as the second movement abruptly enters and riffs hard to the end. Darker in mood and with a nod to the wilder end of the genre, there’s a nice edge to this performance.
The poignantly titled ‘Safe Place’ brings the blood pressure down beautifully. The delightfully restrained harp plucking is the guide but it is Josephine’s sax that really shines on this piece. Sensitive yet powerfully tidal, her playing ebbs and flows like the sea as Evan adds a lightly rumbling tension.
In contrast, ‘Castle Hill Road’ stops and starts with aplomb. There’s a huge riff in this that both the harp and sax unite on but much of the song wanders into deep psychey grooves, where solos fly in at surprising angles, the arpeggiated harp a ticking stopwatch.
The album’s thoughtful title track ‘Passing By’ emanates reflection early on as its title suggests, uncoiling with lovely Eastern motifs and a complex, mutating arrangement. Repeat listens reveal lavish harmonic touches and the subtleties of Evan’s discreetly experimental drumming.
As the title suggests,‘A Greek In Spain’ openly borrows from the Andalusian flamenco traditions. Maria-Christina’s harp replicates the flamenco guitarist’s expressive touch, Moorish Spain-influenced melodies tumble and fall in a nearly abstracted first half before the drums explode in a tight jazz-funk pocket, the sax howling, the harp energetically rising to the challenge. Ever since I first heard Miles Davis’ ‘Sketches Of Spain’ masterpiece, I’ve been a sucker for jazz that draws on the melodic riches of the Southern Mediterranean region and this track is a worthy addition to the canon.
The final track on this excellent journey from Harper Trio is the aching blues of ‘Standing Alone’. A painfully blue mood with a beautiful chord sequence, the solos from Josephine and Maria-Christina positively weep with profound reflection - a melancholic finale to an invigorating album that they should all be very proud of.
Maria-Christina’s egoless direction and distinctly personal but open-hearted compositions has allowed the musicians’ individual personalities and superior talents to shine through on this outstanding album which I suspect will become an inspiration to jazz-harpists everywhere. 9/10.
n.b. I have to also mention how much I enjoyed the production of this record. There’s a genuine feeling of space and minimal interference in the mix without the overload of microphones and compressed tracks that so many new jazz albums that I get sent these days have. The music breathes easy and comes across as a trio in a single room, playing for and interacting with each other, and it is a gorgeous experience.
BUY HERE! https://mariachristinaharper.bandcamp.com/album/passing-by